Fresh Beginnings
by ThatOneWriterFromShef
Summary: After a close victory in the Hoenn League, Kalos trainer Lewis decides to test the skills he's accumulated so far in the far off Unova region. Meeting a companion in a girl named Mariah before he even gets there, things are set to get interesting. Rated T for suggestive themes, strong language and adult humour.
1. Chapter 1

The sea at night, is, to simply put it, beautiful to look at...if it wasn't raining.

So Lewis is just stuck in his room, looking out onto the deck, which is getting massacred by raindrop after raindrop. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Team Aqua actually succeeded in awakening Kyogre, and this is the direct result. He's never actually tried living on a cruise liner, so if he wasn't up to date with news in the Hoenn region, this would be the perfect place to start.

It's actually hard to believe that it's been a week since he won the Hoenn League Championships with his team of six.

Meowstic

Amaura

Linoone

Aegislash

Swampert

and Mawile

Each of them had their own strengths and weaknesses, and to be honest, he's actually surprised they managed it. Then again, they were a really close bunch, and no matter the double battle, they could cover each other like siblings.

Yes, even the sword looking one. He has feelings to.

He's already called home, to let his mother know that he's sending her his Hoenn league trophy via mail once he gets to Castelia City in the Unova region. He even gave her an outloud spoken P.S message thanking her for getting him over his seasickness. Damon was a pain to put up with before they parted ways in Slateport.

Sweet Arceus, that bathroom smelt gnarly.

He can't really complain now though. The room is nice and fresh after about 2 bottles of air freshener, and he's about to go see another region.

Ah, Unova. From the tall skyscrapers to its many bridges. This'll be interesting.

Suddenly, a beeping noise emits from his trouser pocket.

"Huh?" He takes out his Poke Nav, a handy little device he got from the Hoenn region. An alarm reminder tells him all he needs to know. "Crap, got a minute to get there!" He grabs his hoodie and in a matter of seconds, he has it zipped up. "Who's bright idea was it to set the reminder for 7:59 when the last battle is at 8?!" He pauses just as the answer comes to him and his hand is hovering over his Poke Ball belt. "Oh wait, it was mine."

He wraps the belt around his waste, then grabs a bracelet with a rainbow coloured button on the top of it, and he slots it on. "Let's waste us an opponent!" He whips his head to the bed. "Meowstic! Let's move!"

"Mrreeeooww.." The curled up Pokemon yawns, not wanting to move from her spot yet.

"Meowstiiic.." Lewis groans in a whiny voice, somehow. "We've got literally 30 seconds and counting to get there!"

Said Pokemon opens one eye, looking at him.

"I let you curl up at the end of my bed like you wanted, so can you at least throw me a bone?"

Meowstic sighs, then hops off the bed, walking past the trainer to the door, using her Psychic move to open it up.

"And don't waste your energy before the fight even begins..." He facepalms, walking out after the Pokemon.

* * *

In a huge room filled with passengers of the ship, who are crowded on balconies placed around the arena, a battlefield, average sized, has only one competitor on it so far.

"Where is he..?" A girl with medium brown hair asks herself, growing ever impatient. "Did he decide to throw in the towel? He could have just buzzed the staff to let them know...much easier."

Contrary to her musings, Lewis bursts in through the double doors and takes his place on the other side of the field, Meowstic beside him. "Sorry I'm late, peeps! This one took her time waking up." He points at his Pokemon, who throws her trainer a glare of disapproval, making a few of the audience giggle.

"Not at all. We're just about to start." The referee tells him, before lifting up his flags. "This battle is between Lewis Mansell of Santalune City, and Mariah Smith of Olivine City!"

"I hope you can give me a good battle, Lewis! And I really hope that you just winning the Hoenn League wasn't some dumb fluke!" She smirks, pulling out a Lure Ball. "Simipour, come on out!" She throw it up in the air, and the Geyser Pokemon lands on the field, ready for battle.

"Simi!"

"Hmm...How about it, Meowstic?" He smirks down at his Pokemon. "Ready to win us another battle?"

She nods and smirks with as much determination as himself, running onto the field, facing Simipour.

"Meowstic vs. Simipour! Let the battle begin!"

"I'll let you go first, Mariah." Lewis says with a smirk.

"That is gonna be a big mistake." She smirks back. "Simipour, Scald!"

Simipour takes in a deep breath, and shoots out a stream of boiling hot water at Meowstic.

"Straight in with a ranged attack..Meowstic, Shadow Ball!"

Meowstic holds out her paws, charges up a deep purple ball, and launches it at the Scald attack. The two attacks collide, and explode in the middle. Both Lewis and Mariah cover their faces with their arms, an excited grin on Lewis's face.

"Noice! This won't be an easy fight!" He clenches his left hand into a fist, and thrusts his right hand forward. "Meowstic! Signal Beam!"

"Mmrrewwwostic!" Her paws glow with a rainbowy aura, and energy charges up in between them. She thrusts them forward, and the peculiar beam bursts forth at Simipour.

"Oh no you don't." Mariah smirks. "Simipour, use Dig!"

"Simi!" The Geyser Pokemon burrows into the arena, causing Lewis to tilt his head.

"How did it-"

"The cruiseliner company like to keep things as authentic as possible. So they use the same dirt that's used in the Pokemon League matches." The referee explains to the trainer.

"Aaaah. Okay then...Meowstic, concentrate!"

The Pokemon closes her eyes, and her ears unfurl. That way, she can feel for Simipour underground.

"It works a little bit like the aura capabilities Riolu and Lucario have. But y'know, with Psychic Pokemon!"

Meowstic's eyes open, sensing Simipour's presence underneath. "Meow!"

"Alright, Meowstic, jump! And let there be Thunderbolt!" He pumps his fist up with a grin, Meowstic's body crackling with lightning.

"Not so fast! Simipour! Use Scald again!" The monkey opens his mouth, and shoots a jet of boiling hot water, catching Meowstic off guard, doing as the name of the attack says and scalding her.

"Mrrreeeooww!" She goes flying, doing a backwards somersault, before she lands on her feet, steaming.

"Dangit! That was some fast thinking." Lewis laments. Mariah and Simipour are a good combination, that's for sure.

"Why doesn't your Meowstic cool off?" The female trainer smirks, waggling her finger. "Simipour, Ice Beam!"

"Simii!" Simipour opens his mouth once more, shooting a frozen blue beam at Meowstic.

"Puns?" Lewis snickers, snapping his fingers. "Meowstic, use Psychic, and direct that attack right back at him!"

Meowstic, recovered from the boiling attack, unfurls her ears once more, and grabs the beam with her Psychic attack, directing it away from her, and making it go straight for Simipour.

"Get outta there, Simipour!" Mariah shouts, but the beam strikes Simipour's feet, freezing them to the field. "Oh, no!" She shouts with her eyes widening.

"Oh, yes." Lewis responds with a smirk. "We didn't win our league battles by doing nothing. Meowstic, Thunderbolt! Once more!"

"Meeeooowstiic!" Her body crackles once again, before she fires off a stream of lightning, which hits Simipour without fail.

"It's Super Effective!" Lewis laughs, clenching his fists. "Now finish it! Jump, and use Shadow Ball!"

Leaping into the air, Meowstic puts her paws together, charging up another Shadow Ball between them.

"Simipour, dodge it!" Mariah franticly shouts, but it's too late, as the attack hits Simipour right as he gets to his feet.

He's send tumbling back, before hitting the floor with his back, swirly eyed.

"Simipour is unable to battle!" Cheering fills the room. "Meowstic is the winner, which means Lewis is the winner of the tourney!"

"Yyees!" Lewis makes a victory pose, as Meowstic runs back to him. He kneels down, and strokes her head, causing her to smile and purr gently, ear twitching. "Meowstic, you were amazing.."

Mariah kneels down and pats Simipour on the head with a gentle smile. "You did well, Simipour. I couldn't ask for anything else. Rest up, okay?" Returning Simipour to his Pokeball, she looks up at the victor and gives a little giggle, seeing Lewis scratching Meowstic's ear, before returning her. She gets up and walks up to the trainer, and holds out her hand. "Hey."

Lewis looks up at Mariah, smiles and takes her hand, standing up. "Good battle, Mariah!"

She smiles back, shaking his hand. "You too. I finally found a trainer who could give me a run for my money."

"Weeell I don't like to brag, but..." He laughs a little rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you won the Hoenn League, yadda yadda, babyface." She taunts with a smirk.

"I do not have a babyface!" Lewis retorts, blushing from embarrassment. He looks around.

Good.

Everybody's vacated save a few that didn't even hear him. Hopefully.

"How old are you really?" Mariah playfully asks him, leaning over to him.

"18, just like they said on the tournament stats in Ever Grande!" He shouts defensively.

"Riiight. You look more 16 to me."

"Steven said that..." Lewis replies, trailing off, but then waves his arms about. "But that's not the point!"

Mariah bursts out laughing, and nudges him. "Oh lighten up. You're fun to mess with." She sees him huff and turn to the side, crossing his arms, then rolls her eyes. "You stopping off at Unova?"

His demeanour changes instantly, and his smile returns. "Yeah! I turned down the position of champion and let Steven keep it. I mean there's more of the world to see, ain't there?"

"That's true." Mariah agrees, putting a hand on her hip. "Hey, I'm gonna be travelling the Unova region as well!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! So how about me and you travel together?" Mariah suggests, an excited grin on her face.

"Uh?!"

"Yeah! I mean we're both strong, we both love Pokemon, I bet we could storm Unova with our combined strength! Besides, you seem like an alright guy."

Lewis stands there befuddled.

This trainer, this girl, who was his last opponent in this small tournament, was asking him if she could travel with him. They'd only just met!

Although...

She's great at battling. He's experienced that first hand...well Meowstic did anyway.

Plus, she doesn't seem like a bad person in his eyes. She showed concern for Simipour when it was hurt.

What did he have to lose?

"Yeah, alright." He says with a shrug and a smile.

"Woohoo!" She gives him a tight hug and smiles brightly. "I knew you would!"

Lewis's eyes widen, face heating up, and sweating slightly. _"Geez, this girl's slightly weird. Then again, I'm the one who wore a fez at the Hoenn League afterparty...Her chest is pressing against mine, I repeat, her chest is...damn it, I swear if Damon was here, he'd be laughing his ass off to kingdom come." _Unable to say any actual words, he just lets off a nervous chuckle, and pats her head. "Hehe..yeah. "

_Attention, ladies and gentlemen, the St. Anne the Second has arrived in Castelia City. You will have an hour to vacate, please make sure your rooms are empty of your belongings, and your room keys returned to the staff. Thank you for travelling with us, and have a nice day._

"Have a nice day is said when something's about to explode in some movies. Let's hope that isn't the case here." Lewis quips, unwrapping Mariah's arms from around him.

"Don't make me paranoid, babyface." She digs him in the arm playfully.

"I'll try not to, huggles." He retorts glaring at her in response, to which she glares back. There's a momentary pause before they break into laughter, and walk to the exit of the ship.

"_Eh." _Lewis thinks to himself. _"I did the right thing, she's not half bad."_

* * *

**So this is a thing.**

**It's something I came up with after replaying Alpha Sapphire. Hence the Team Aqua reference near the beginning.**

**I might not continue it, yet I might do. Just tell me what you think in a review c:**

**Ciao for now!**


	2. Meeting Memory

"Whoa..."

"Damn right...wow.."

"Rustboro ain't got nothing on the size of this place."

"Neither has Goldenrod."

The two trainers are stood at the port, looking at the sheer size of Castelia with their mouths wide open. Mariah is the first to snap out of the stupor. She looks over at Lewis, grins, and pushes his mouth shut with her hand. "Dork."

"Shut up." Lewis retorts, and thinks for a moment, tapping his foot., before his face hits realisation "Oh crap! I promised I'd get back to my Mum once I touched down here!" He hears Mariah stifle a laugh, and he makes a face. "She's always busy, so I came straight here!"

She raises an eyebrow. "Busy? With what?"

"Well, she-"

He's cut short by the ringing of a device.

"Hold on, I just need to take this." He gets out a yellow square device, and flips it open. "Damon!" He presses the button and a voice rings from it.

"Yo!"

"You just caught me, Damo! I've just arrived in Castelia! You home yet?"

"Yeah, I showed my mum the pictures of our journey, and remember that time you petted that Electrike and it made your hair all fuzzy, and I'm in the background laughing? She laughed hard at it, and she framed it in the living room."

"She what?!" Lewis shouts, eyes wide and blushing, while Mariah tries once again to keep her laughter under control.

She fails miserably, and has to sit on a nearby bench to stop herself from falling over. Which once again fails.

"Who's that in the background, Lewis?" Damon asks, before there's a two second pause, followed by a teasing tone. "I never knew you had a girlfriend, Lew. Why did you never tell me?"

Lewis facepalms with his other hand, blushing. "She isn't my girlfriend, from the sound of it, she got on at Olivine when the ship passed through Johto."

"I know, I know, I'm kidding. Hehe. Geez."

"Though on the topic, I'll make sure to give Scarlet your regards if I see her."

"Dude!"

It's Lewis's turn to laugh now, as he walks towards the bench. "Don't like it when it's directed at you, do ya?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Damon huffs. "I'll talk to ya later, fuzz." 

"Later." He ends the call, and sits on the bench, looking at Mariah with a raised eyebrow. "Finished?"

"Yep."

"Jaw hurting?"

"Ya huh."

"Karma."

"Oh shut up." She giggles, sitting next to him and digging him on the arm. She thinks for a moment, then looks at the city once again. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

"I dunno, I mean, I don't know much about this city." Lewis answers, fiddling around with Meowstic's Pokeball. "I think I might go and make a few changes."

"To..what exactly?" She asks, tilting her head.

"My team. For one, as well as the Pokemon I have on me now, I've got a few more that Sycamore's taking care of."

"Sycamore?"

"The Professor in Kalos."

"Ah."

"Yeeup. Secondly, I wanna make room for at least two one Pokemon from this region, sooo...I'll streamline to 4."

"Fair enough. Got any in mind?"

"Definitely an Excadrill. I battled one in Ever Grande, and I've been dying to get one for myself since. Gave Mawile a run for her money." He states with a smirk on his face. "She still won though."

"Simipour's from Unova, y'know." Mariah says with a sideways smirk.

"I'll probably not get a Simipour." Lewis says almost immediately.

"Why not?"

"Cause you've got one and I'll feel like I'm copying you!"

"You won't, seriously." She laughs and pats him on the head. "Chill out."

"Please don't pat me on the head." He says flatly.

"Okay then!" She takes her hand away, but not before pinching his cheeks. This makes Lewis try hard not to laugh, and fail. "There we go, a smile!"

Lewis rolls his eyes, his smile on leaving his face. "Yeah, alright, you got me."

She rests an elbow on the table. "So, you and Meowstic seem to be a lot closer than some of the other Pokemon I saw you use in the league. Was she your first Pokemon?"

"Actually, yeah. Like the announcer said earlier, I'm from Santalune in Kalos. It's pretty quiet to be honest, even though it has the first Pokemon Gym in the region."

"Who's the Leader again? Her name's on the tip of my tongue."

"Viola. She's a bug type leader. Damn good one as well." He smirks. I actually had my first proper battle with her as well. And like I said, Meowstic is my first Pokemon. I've had her since she was a little Espurr. Since I was 10." He puts her Pokeball on the table and just stares at it. "It was raining, and me and mum were heading home after a party at a friend's house..."

* * *

(FLASHBACK)

A younger Lewis, and a woman who looks to be around early 30s, late 20s, were running through the rain in thick coats, trying to get home as fast as they can.

"Hurry up, Lew, before either of us catches a cold!"

"Hey, I'm running as fast as I can, I've not got very long legs, y'know!"

"Fair point, but we're almost there!"

"Thank Arceus!"

"Lewis!"

"Sorry..."

The older woman eventually makes it to the front door of their house, searches through the keys in her pockets.

"Damn. Why do my pockets have to be so huge...aha!" She pulls out a bunch of keys, but then lets them go, yelling as they stay afloat. "Klefki, now isn't the time!"

As the cheeky Fairy/Steel dual type laughs to himself, she finally gets the house key out and unlocks the door, running in, leaving the door open for Lewis.

"20 seconds and I'm making you open the door yourself!" She barks out before getting her coat off.

"20 seconds?! Geez, that's more than enough...huff...time to get in!" Lewis retorts as he starts to slow down, overcome by exhaustion. He soon comes to a halt in front of the door, leaning on the frame. "Wow...running halfway across town takes a lot outta ya." He remarks, before hearing a slight whimper from the bushes. "Huh?"

Hearing nothing else, he shrugs it off before making to go inside. He then hears the same trembling voice again, stopping him.

Okay, so he wasn't hearing things.

"Hold on, mum."

He turns to the bushes, and slowly creeps over. Hearing nothing else, presumably because whatever it was knew it was caught, he bends down on his knees and opens the bushes.

An Espurr.

And dang, if it doesn't look soaked to the skin.

Quite timid as well.

"Hey.." He greets quietly.

It edges away abruptly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not gonna hurt you. Seriously, I'm not that kind of person."

Understanding his words, it stops and eyes him curiously.

Lewis smiles and reaches in, slowly stroking her head with his thumb. "Don't have a home, little one? Geez, you're freezing...have you been out in the rain all night?" He's answered with a light purring and her head pushing against his hand. "Come on...I'm not leaving you out here." He reaches his other hand in, and with both of his arms wrapped around the Pokemon, he pulls her out, and shields her from the falling water. He rushes into his house and closes the door.

His mother hears him and walks into the kitchen. "What took you so long young ma-Why have you brought a Pokemon in?" She changes subjects mid-sentence seeing Espurr in his arms.

"She was freezing and shivering, I couldn't not." He answers back. "I don't even know if she has an owner or trainer! Let me take care of her, at least for the night and we can check around in the morning. Pleaaase?"

His mother blanches. He's using his famous brown puppy dog eyes again. She cups her face in both palms.

"Fiine...just know she's your responsibility."

"Woohoo!" He then looks down, and notices she seems to be sound asleep now she's in a warm place. "Is the fire lit?"

"Just how you like it."

He squees and runs into the living room, grabbing a towel on the way. As he sits Espurr up in front of the fire and starts to gently dry her off, she reveals that she was simply resting her tired eyes for a moment.

"Oh! Hehe. You still not asleep yet? Oh well." He starts rubbing the Pokemon's fur dry, hearing her purr loudly and snuggle up against him. "Awwwww...I'll make your fur nice and fluffy once more!"

"Es-purr!" The Restraint Pokemon chirps happily, her mood quickly uplifted by Lewis's words, before she goes back to purring.

"You'll be fine for the morning, Espurr...you'll see." He smiles and continues rubbing the small Pokemon dry, feeling the vibrations of the purring on his hands.

* * *

"Uh huh. Yes, I've checked all around Santalune, and nothing. No reports of a missing Espurr." Lewis's mother, Sara, says down the phone the next morning, while Lewis and Espurr are at the dinner table, eating breakfast. "Then again...there is a possibility of..." She looks at Lewis giving Espurr a little bit of his pancake, which has a little ketchup on it. Some of the ketchup ends up on Espurr's top lip, causing Lewis to laugh, and Espurr to look on at the 10 year old, confused at why he's laughing. "...Eh, never mind."

She watches on as Lewis cuts off another piece of pancake and holds it close to Espurr's face, making her go cross eyed. He waves it in front of her face, watching as her eyes follow it eagerly.

"I've got to go now. Thanks again, Viola. Bye now." She puts the phone down and lets out a giggle at the site of Lewis and Espurr messing around. "You alright there, you two?"

"Just fine!" Lewis says, a grin on his face, before the piece of pancake gets enveloped in a blue glow, then pulled off of the fork, straight into Espurr's mouth. "Wha..? Hey!"

Espurr then proceeds to laugh her little head off at Lewis's new pouty face, and it isn't long before he joins her in that laughter.

Sara waits for Lewis to calm himself down before she calls him. "Lewis?"

"Yeah?" Lewis answers, looking her way, while scratching Espurr behind the ear.

"I thought you might like to know that I've checked around Santalune, called everybody, and nobody's said a thing about a missing Espurr."

"Really..?" He asks in a sad, yet somehow hopeful tone.

"Mmhmm!" She nods, and has a sly smirk on her face. "Soooo...I'm thinking I might let you...maybe keep her."

His eyes widen and he leaps out of his chair. "Seriously?"

She then holds up a finger. "If...!" Lewis freezes, and lets her finish, eyes wide in anticipation. "...You take care of her. She's your responsibility."

Lewis immediately stands tall and salutes her. "Aye aye, ma'am!"

She giggles and relaxes. "Besides, in places like Kanto and Johto, kids your age start your adventures, I imagine you and Espurr will be fine. Plus, when Litleo comes home from the Center, he'll have a new playmate."

Lewis excitedly scoops Espurr in his arms and hugs her tightly. "Hear that, Espurr, you're with me now!"

"'Spurrr!" She chirps happily, hugging him back and nuzzling her head into his chest.

"Oh, and Lewis?"

Lewis whirls to meet his mother's eyes.

"Seeing as you love learning about Pokemon, which I so obviously know, seeing as when I hand out homework, you're one of the few that doesn't groan, think of this as like...a class project. You're in the last year of Trainer School anyway, so this seems like a good place to start." She winks at him, and he smirks.

"Deadline?"

"Whenever you wanna start your journey."

Lewis takes that as a cue to squee, and run outside into the back garden with Espurr, introducing her to Sara's League winning team.

(FLASHBACK END)

* * *

"Your own Mom was the teacher at your school?!" Mariah laughs hard, clutching her stomach. "Oh, man, that had to have been so rough for you! 'A Mommy and her student!' 'Don't pick on Lewi, he'll call for his moommyyy!'"

Lewis looks at her for a moment, before rolling his eyes. "You are weird." He picks up Meowstic's Pokeball and minimises it, attaching it to his belt. "Nah, they daren't have. Because they know **exactly** how pissed off my mother can get. Ever heard of the term "Beware the nice ones"? Yeah, that applies to my mum in spades. Get on her bad side, and she'll be plotting of like 50 different ways to screw you over. The method she goes through with is usually the most merciful one, and even then it's extremely painful yet satisfying to watch."

"How so?"

"When I was three, she was invited to this place called the Battle Tower in the Hoenn region. That area's since been expanded into the Battle Frontier, but still. They were hosting a tournament and invited her, since she'd basically beaten the Kalos League and the Sinnoh League. She was able to get to the final, but the opponent she was about to face called her Chesnaught ugly."

Mariah raises an eyebrow, curious as to where this is going. "Aaaaand..?"

"My mother then proceeded to wreck the opponent's entire team...with just Chesnaught."

Mariah's eyes widen, and she lets out a laugh. "That was **your** mom?! That was all over the news, and from what I heard, that trainer went into hiding after that tournament ended!"

"And that is why my mum is a teacher. And my school life was the best."

The two then laugh their heads off where they sit, drawing the attention of multiple people and Pokemon walking to and from the docks.

It lasts a full minute.

They eventually calm down, and Lewis's the first to speak up. "Oh, and Espurr wasn't the only Pokemon I took in."

"Who's the other one?" Mariah asks him, genuine curiosity in her voice and face.

"C'mon, let's get to the Center, and I'll show ya. I need to make a call to Professor Sycamore first...and hope that he hasn't been shocking any beginner trainers."

The two trainers get up, and walk away from the docks and walk through the busy crowd and to the center.

Too bad the crowd doesn't cover them from the attention of a tall guy with both ears pierced, spiky black hair, a biker jacket and a scowl on his face at seeing them.

* * *

**Ooohhhh, that doesn't sound right!**

**Remember to _please_ leave a review and maybe follow if you haven't already!**

**Ciao for now! :3**


End file.
